South Korea and Japan have reaffirmed their commitment to implementing a bilateral deal to resolve the issue of the Japanese military's wartime sexual enslavement of Korean women, Seoul's foreign ministry said Thursday.South Korean Vice Foreign Minister Lim Sung-nam and his Japanese counterpart Shinsuke Sugiyama met in Honolulu, Hawaii, on Wednesday (local time) to discuss bilateral issues ahead of three-way talks with U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Antony Blinken.In their talks, Lim stressed th

July 14, 2016

The nominee to be the U.S. ambassdor to the Philippines said Wednesday that he will work closely with Manila to help the Southeast Asian ally reduce tensions in the South China Sea and better monitor the waters off their shores.Amb. Sung Kim made the remark during his Senate confirmation hearing as tensions have spiked between the U.S. and China in the wake of an international tribunal's ruling that rejected China's territorial claims to most of the South China Sea in a victory for the Philippin

July 14, 2016

TOKYO (AP) -- An influential Japanese political lobby says it will do its utmost to capitalize on Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's election victory to push for a constitutional revision for a more active military role. Tadae Takubo, chairman of Nippon Kaigi, said Wednesday that the war-renouncing constitution that makes Japan's defense ``defective'' needs to be corrected. Abe's election gains in the upper house over the weekend mean his party can now cobble together the crucial two-thirds majority in

July 13, 2016

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) -- The U.S. military in Africa said Wednesday it has sent 40 additional soldiers to South Sudan's capital, Juba, to help secure American personnel and facilities in the war-torn city, while South Sudanese trying to flee the country by road reported attacks, killings and robberies by armed men.Amid a tense cease-fire which has held since Monday night, the U.S. troops deployed at the request of the State Department, said Africom spokeswoman Cpt. Jennifer Dyrcz.In five days of f

July 13, 2016

South Korea called Wednesday for "peaceful and creative diplomatic efforts" to resolve the South China Sea dispute following a landmark ruling that rejected China's claims to the key body of water.On Tuesday, the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague ruled that China has no historical rights to the resource rich waters that are also claimed by the Philippines and other Southeast Asian nations. In a statement, Seoul's foreign ministry said South Korea has consistently maintained the view th

July 13, 2016

The United States said Tuesday that an international tribunal's ruling on the territorial disputes in the South China Sea is "final and legally binding on both China and the Philippines," as tensions between the two superpowers rose higher.The Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague delivered the verdict rejecting China's claims to most of the South China Sea.The verdict was a victory for the Philippines and other Southeast Asian nations locked in maritime disputes with China.Beijing immedia

July 13, 2016

An international tribunal rejected China's extensive claims in the South China Sea in a landmark ruling Tuesday that also found the country had aggravated the seething regional dispute and violated the Philippines' maritime rights by building up artificial islands that destroyed coral reefs and by disrupting fishing and oil exploration.While the decision is seen as a major legal declaration regarding one of the world's most contested regions, China immediately rejected it as a “farce” and the tr

July 13, 2016

The United States remains in contact with Chinese and Russian leaders "at the highest levels,"the Pentagon said Friday, as Beijing and Moscow protest strongly the planned deployment of the U.S. THAAD missile defense system to South Korea.South Korea and the U.S. announced earlier that they have officially decided to deploy a Terminal High Altitude Area Defense battery to South Korea to cope with ever-growing nuclear and missile threats from North Korea.China, which has long voiced opposition to

July 10, 2016

The Korean alphabet, "Hangeul," has become a second foreign language for the college entrance examination in Thailand, the center of "Hallyu," the global popularity of Korean dramas, movies and pop songs, the South Korean Embassy here said Friday.  "The Council of University Presidents of Thailand has recently notified us of its decision to adopt the Korean language as an optional second foreign language subject at its college entrance test," an embassy official said. In explaining its decision,

July 8, 2016

South Korea, the United States and Japan will hold their first meeting on development issues on Friday, as the three nations seek to expand trilateral cooperation on the international stage, Seoul's foreign ministry said.The inaugural session will take place in Washington with delegations from each country's foreign ministries in attendance, the South Korean ministry said in a press release."The three countries, in the era of sustainable development, plan to share their policies and experiences

July 8, 2016

An invitation to the 1906 wedding of a daughter of then-U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt and other historical items have been recovered from the site of the former Korean legation in Washington, officials said Thursday.The 15 items, which were found during restoration work on the building that was used as the Korean legation from 1891 to 1910, before Korea was colonized by Japan, show active diplomacy Korean envoys were engaged in at the time, the Overseas Korean Cultural Heritage Foundation sa

July 8, 2016

BERLIN, (AP) -- German prosecutors said Thursday they had arrested an alleged Algerian Islamic State group militant who had had contact with the late ringleader of the November Paris attacks, Abdelhamid Abaaoud.The suspect, identified only as 20-year-old Bilal C., is accused of having informed Abaaoud of ways to smuggle jihadists into Western Europe along the Balkans route then used by a mass influx of migrants.  He had also been in touch with Moroccan jihadist Ayoub El Khazzani, who opened fire

July 7, 2016

LONDON, (AFP) -- Five men died Thursday in an accident at a recycling centre near Birmingham, central England and a sixth man has been taken to hospital with serious leg injuries, police said."Police can confirm that five men have died after an industrial accident at a recycling site at Nechells this morning," the police statement said, referring to a suburb of the city."Officers were called... to reports that a wall had collapsed. Emergency services attended but the men could not be saved and t

July 7, 2016

WASHINGTON (AP) --  Fewer Americans sought unemployment benefits last week, a sign that U.S. workers still have job security despite recent tremors in the global economy.The Labor Department said Thursday that weekly applications fell 16,000 to a seasonally adjusted 254,000. The 4-week average, which is less volatile, dipped slightly to 264,750.Unemployment claims are a proxy for layoffs. The 70-week streak of claims staying below 300,000 is the longest since 1973. It's evidence that employers v

July 7, 2016